DTC759: Brands Using AI In Product Development

Good morning,

Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:

🤖 AI-Generated Flavors?
How food brands are now using AI for R&D.

💡 Tracking Customer Lifecycles
Transform your email program with this game-changing framework.

🧊 DTC Is Not Dead
Guess which brand made a billion in sales last year?

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Bargeboard NOLA, Mother Science, and Elephant Island Wine. 👋

🚀 This Brand Doubled Their Sales… And Your Brand Can Join Them

A brand partnered with Pilothouse with one goal in mind: scale. 🚀

The team took over their campaigns, revamped their creative approach, and saw results better than anyone could have expected…

💥 Their sales doubled, their revenue grew by 348%, and their AOV increased by over $30!

This isn’t a one-off success story. If you’re dreaming of scale, the team has a few spaces open to help your brand achieve results like these.

If you want to scale to new heights through 2025 and beyond, get in touch with the partnerships team today.

🚨 Kickstart your growth and unlock your brand’s full potential.

🤖 Wasabi Ice Cream, Anyone?

Last year, Baskin-Robbins turned to ChatGPT for inspiration.

While the ice cream brand has more than 1,400 creations in its flavor library, they were still looking to push the boundaries when it came to sweet innovations.

Baskin-Robbin launched a hybrid store in Seoul that functioned as a shop and a research lab to test new flavors.

The company used an AI-driven new product development (NPD) model to analyze current food trends and data from 23 million Happy Point reward members.

The prompt? Create new and experimental flavors and visualize what the end product looks like.

The result?

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A new AI-generated flavor each month.

So far, ChatGPT has helped create exclusive creations like Wasabi, Green Tea Orange Jasmine, and Crème Brûlée.

Oreo is also leveraging AI in its product development process.

Its AI tool generates recipe options based on parameters like aroma, appearance, nutritional value, cost, and flavor—streamlining development and reducing product tastings.

So far, AI has assisted in over 70 projects, with its biggest success being Gluten-Free Golden Oreos.

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The takeaway?

AI is quickly transforming product innovation, making it faster and more efficient for brands to develop flavors that resonate with consumers.

Are you using AI in the product development process?

Reply to the newsletter and let us know what your brand has been up to!

📈 ChatGPT Sees an Uptick in Users

Despite the hype around its new competitor, DeepSeek, OpenAI shared that ChatGPT recorded 400 million active weekly users as of February, up from 300 million in December.

The company also doubled the number of paying enterprise users since September, now at 2 million.

🚀 Want UGC That Performs in the Top 1% of TikTok Ads? Here’s How To Do It.

Picture this: You're starting a UGC and micro-influencer campaign with a dedicated team of experts who guide you step-by-step, share best practices, keep you updated on progress, and never leave you in the dark. 🔦

Let’s turn that picture into reality...

Say hello to minisocial AND say hello to social success. 👏

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With minisocial, you can:

• Get UGC that performs in the top 1% of TikTok ads
• Go viral with over 6 million views from micro-influencer posts
• Build an always-on community of superfans
• Get video assets for your organic and paid social channels

Let the minisocial team guide you through a successful UGC/micro-influencer project like they've done with over 1,000 brands since 2018! 💥

🎧 How to Track Customer Life Cycles to Build a Sustainable DTC Brand

Understanding the path your customers take—from their first purchase to repeat transactions and beyond—can transform your business.

In this episode of the pod, Jordan Gordon from Pilothouse delves into this game-changing framework: tracking promotional, customer, and category life cycles to understand the quality of your revenue.

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In this podcast, we cover:

• Why tracking your discount rate matters for long-term profitability.
• How to maximize lifetime value: By moving customers beyond your hero product.
• Learn to spot negative indicators in your revenue metrics before they derail growth.
• Understand why base growth is crucial for reducing ad dependency.

👉 You can listen to the full episode with Jordan here.

🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE

Yeti has quickly evolved into one of the most popular DTC brands and recently reached a huge milestone: a billion in DTC sales in one calendar year.

How did they do it? By leaning into the drinkware category, managing inventory, and offering customization options.

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⚡ QUICK HITS

💬 TikTok has 900 million users every day. Are you on their FYP? Experts from TikTok, Dotdigital, and Unsociable share the strategy for maximum results with minimal lift in this on-demand webinar. Access the recording here. *

📥 Got a B2B Biz?

Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 150k brand leaders and founders this year. Talk to our team to learn more.

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Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• 💡 TWBERP 21: What’s Next for Email and Retention?
• 👞 Scaling Portland Leather Goods to a 9 Figure Brand
• 🛍️ AKNF 482: Optimize Amazon Merchandising To Maximize Sales
• 💡TWBERP 20: Segmentation & Subscription Tips with Eleah Portillo
• ⭐ Scale Brand Awareness: BYLT’s Upper Funnel Marketing Tips
• 🌱 AKNF 480: Meta’s Ad Rules Impact Health & Wellness Brands

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Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

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Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.